


Shelter

by posabule



Category: We Bare Bears (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, this takes place during hurricane hal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-07 17:54:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18878254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/posabule/pseuds/posabule
Summary: Panda comforts Charlie after the two are nearly fried in Charlie's car.





	Shelter

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place between Panda jumping out of the car in Hurricane Hal (narrowly escaping death) and he and Charlie pushing the car up the hill. I wanted to write something fluffy and comforting because, man, that must have been traumatic and these boys could use the fluff. Charlie is pretty tame in this (aka just not as hyperactive as usual in the show) but he's pretty emotionally drained after what just happened and is dealing with a lot of internal guilt. And I just really want soft gentle Panda, ok?!?!

Panda is sprawled out on the saturated ground, eyes wide and body trembling, the snake still held protectively in his paw. He is shaken and exhausted and appreciates having the comfort of something, however scaly and wiggly it is. Though he could really use comfort from-

“PANDA!” comes that gravelly, sweet voice he knows so well. Before he can react, he finds himself being scooped up by fuzzy grey arms, his face pushed against a familiar pine-scented neck.

He wraps his arms around Charlie, embracing him and taking the opportunity to ground himself. Charlie eventually pulls away and searches Panda’s face, tears pooling in his eyes.

“Are you okay? I’m so sorry this happened and I couldn’t do more to help you out, pumpkin. Oh, Panda. I’m awful sorry," Charlie says. Panda has never seen the man speak so solemnly. He can’t help but tear up in response, emotions running high.

“Charlie, it’s not your fault, you couldn’t have known! It was just… a freak thing,” he responds between sniffles. “And it doesn’t even matter now. We’re all safe.”

Despite Panda coming slightly closer to being fried than Charlie did, he finds himself wiping away the man’s tears with his paw and caressing his face to comfort him. He knows Charlie’s guilt and self-blame can run deep. The wiping is fruitless with the rain still pounding down, but he aches seeing him so sad.

Charlie gives a weak but affectionate smile and places his hand over the paw on his face. “Aw, Pan Pan…” the weak smile falters. “I just should have listened to you. They’re animals with their own shelters and are used to being out in all sorts of weather, it was dangerous of me to have all of us in there. And, god, I couldn’t do anything to help you in the car… I mean, before I bailed I should’ve made sure you were able to as well, god.”

Panda appreciates Charlie’s self-evaluation and willingness to admit he might not have acted the most responsibly or respectfully in regard to letting the animals in the car, but he does not want to have this conversation right now. Not so soon after a near death experience. He is too full of relief, exhaustion, and has a surge of neediness. Panda wants to expedite the process of getting into his warm, dry cave and possibly into Charlie’s warm, dry arms.

“No, let’s not talk about this now. We can discuss it later; I just want to get out of the rain now,” Panda’s voice is naturally tinged with annoyance and he fears that came out too harshly. “And I’m just glad you’re okay, glad we’re okay," he responds more softly and continues to hopelessly wipe at the tears in the bigfoot’s eyes.

Out of nowhere the rain halts and the clouds begin to clear, a soft glow from the moon beaming down on the drenched boys. Panda can’t help but admire the gentle reflection of the moon in Charlie’s eyes and how angelic he looks under the moon’s pale light. A goofy smile spreads across Panda’s face and he beams up at the man who responds with a shy smile.

After a few moments reveling in his boyfriend’s hypnotizing eyes, the bear decides it is time for them to get moving. He stands up and offers a paw to Charlie who gratefully takes it.

They finally take the time to absorb their surroundings. The forest animals from the car are still lounging around, some watching the two boys, some tending to another animal. The car- oh no, the car. Charlie’s home. It is banged up and burnt, though looks like it could maybe be salvageable. Maybe. Charlie groans and his expression falters.

“Man, this is gonna take a while to fix up. And we just spent all day patching it.”

Panda’s heart aches. He knows what it feels like to not have somewhere comfortable to sleep at night, to not have somewhere that feels safe and homey. It must hurt to see what you considered your home wrecked like that. To make matters worse this is the first home Charlie has had in a while. Charlie might be used to sleeping up in trees or in piles of leaves, but it does not mean it is comfortable.

Panda gives Charlie’s arm a little tug. “Tomorrow I’ll help you patch it up again. We’ll make it look brand new, better than it ever did before," he says, giving Charlie his biggest smile. “We’ll make sure you can sleep in it again soon.”

He is met with a bright smile in response that makes his insides warm and fluttery.

Panda wants to chase this warmth, wants to keep it close to him and never let go of it. He longs for Charlie to never leave his side. He has so many feelings for this tall, furry man and wants nothing more than to make sure he is okay and protect him from everything bad. A mixture of this longing and the remaining adrenaline from his near-death experience emboldened the shy panda to take a big personal step.

“Charlie, come back to the cave with me. We can sleep in my bed. It’ll be warm and dry, and you don’t have to worry about your car tonight. We can push it up the hill and leave it at that until later, ok?” the bear nervously suggests, though he knows Charlie will not reject it. This does not make it less scary to say.

While the two are sort of romantically involved with one another, it has been a very slow building process and Panda doesn’t want to ruin their delicate balance. He calls Charlie his boyfriend only in his head. They kiss often, occasionally on the lips, but they have never really talked about what they have between them. It all just happened and the affection between them naturally grew, though mostly by Charlie’s boldness.

Panda’s companion’s face lights up and his eyes glimmer as he speaks. “Well that sounds just about the nicest way I could spend any night.”

He leans down and places a tender but passionate kiss on Panda’s lips. Panda gladly leans into it.

“We are both taking showers when we get to the cave, though,” Panda says with a smug smile.

Charlie gasps and responds with mock offense. “Aw, come on!”

“Otherwise my bed will smell like wet dog! I’ll blow dry you and brush out your fur if that makes it better," Panda replies. Really, this is something he probably wants more than Charlie. He loves to primp his plushes and Miki-Chan, and it would be miles better to give Charlie that sort of personal attention. He can already imagine the gentle smiles and purrs he could get out of the man.

To his surprise, the man readily agrees. “Yeah, that sounds real nice. Who knows what kinda chemicals from the city are in this rain water anyway,” Charlie says. “And I wanna look real pretty for my boyfriend.” He shyly adds on.

The bear can’t help but spend a moment sputtering and trying to recover from how flustered he is. It is nothing he has heard himself be called before by anyone and they have certainly never used the term with one another yet. After the sputtering and some nervous laughs, Panda finally composes himself enough to respond.

“Well I can’t think of a better way to spend my night than pampering my boyfriend.”


End file.
